


Day 272

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [272]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26724286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Relationships: Donnic Hendyr/Aveline Vallen
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [272]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 1





	Day 272

Aveline and Donnic woke at almost the same time, both screaming and sweating from nightmares only half remembered. If dreams were visions from the Fade, the demon they had faced must have had friends out for revenge. Aveline had not had more than a few hours of sleep since Donnic had gone missing and none of them were restful. Her ability to lead the guards was suffering. She would have to deal with her inner demons soon.

Beside her, she could hear Donnic trying to get his breathing under control. They had not spoken about what they had seen when the demon had tried to take their minds. Neither had been ready to reopen that wound just yet, but they would have to deal with it soon. For now they just held each other, each knowing what the other was feeling but unable to express it with words. Aveline lost track of time, taking what comfort she could in Donnic’s presence.

Aveline wanted to go back to sleep, but she knew she would find no rest. She was not ready to talk but one of them had to, it was not fair to put that on Donnic, and yet…

“What did the demon show you?” she asked. Donnic squeezed her about the shoulders to let her know that he wasn’t ignoring her, but still needed a few moments more. When he did speak, he sounded hollow and it broke Avleine’s heart all over again.

“You,” he said. “Images of you in every situation. I… or it in my skin, was manipulating you to gain more power. It started trying to seek power, for me, for the guards and for Nabil.”

“Nabil made some sort of deal with the monster,” Aveline agreed.

“I never believed you would give in,” Donnic said. “I know how much the honor of the guard means to you, you would die before seeing it corrupted again. But it tried again, each time it was more subtle in the way it asked and less ambitious in what it asked for, until l was confused as to what you would and would not do anymore. Then it played moments from my life over and over until it could mimic them exactly as I remembered them. I knew it wanted to become me, but I had no power to stop it. I don’t know how you resisted.”

“It wasn’t the first demon that’s tried to claim my mind,” Aveline replied. “It was a good likeness for you on the surface. But it soon showed its true purpose. It,” Aveline wasn’t quite ready to share all that had happened, “it was not nearly as kind or caring as you. When I uncovered the deception it tried to take my mind.”

Aveline took a deep breath. Donnic ran his fingers through her hair. The gentle touch calms her nerves, at least until Donic’s finger snakes on a tangle of hair pulling painfully. The shocked regret on his face made Aveline laugh despite everything else.

“Sorry,” Donnic mumbled.

“Donnic how did you know I would never abuse my power?”

“No one who’s known you for more than five minutes could think that,” he replied. “You are the strongest, most honorable person I have ever met. Anyone with your face who did less than her best would be found out as an imposter immediately.”

“I want to believe that,” Aveline said. “But the thing’s the demon showed me-”

“Were lies!”

“No,” Aveline insisted. “It showed me real moments from my life. It showed the times I put the guards before the people of Kirkwall. I… I wanted to believe they were one and the same but I can’t anymore. If we hadn’t found that imposter I never would have done anything about Nabil’s corruption. The elves who ran to the Qunari, who kicked off the attack that killed the Viscount. They were rebelling against corruption I was ignoring. I might have prevented everything if I looked a little closer at-”

“We follow you because we know you have our backs,” Donnic said. “It’s not bad that we trust you. We would follow your lead anywhere.”

“If there are guards who don’t deserve my trust,” Aveline protested. “I’ve only been doing half my job and now I need to start on the other half. We need to scale up yours and Maecon’s team. We need a team of guards to hold the others accountable.”

“Anything for you, Love,” Donnic replied. There was nothing left to say. The nightmares still came when she slept but she managed to sleep until morning. That was victory enough for today.


End file.
